Glacier National Park: West side

July 9, 2018

Hello and welcome back to my Glacier National Park adventure! I covered my East Side hikes over here.

Day 4

On Day 4, I met up with Joseph, who I met on the trail to Iceberg Lake, to hike the Highline trail, which is considered one of the quintessential Glacier park hikes. It was definitely my favorite hike, with views the whole way. I don't think my words can do it justice, so I'll just post a bunch of photos! The entire hike was quite long (maybe 15 miles in total) but the cool thing about this hike is that, if you aren't up for a long trek, you can just walk out a short distance and enjoy some great mountain vistas

There was still quite a bit of snow along the way

About 7 miles in, there's an optional HELLA STEEP one mile detour to view Grinnell Glacier. One mile might not sound very far, but it feels endless when you're basically going straight up! But it was well worth it for the destination

Looking very dorky and very happy to have a momentary rest. Also it was freezing up there.

A little ways beyond the glacier overlook, you'll come upon Granite Park Chalet- where you can stay overnight if you're lucky enough to snag a reservation. The staff there told me that this year, they filled up within 10 hours of reservations opening.

The way down was a pretty easy downhill, ending at an area called The Loop. From there, I grabbed the park shuttle back to where I parked, at Logan Pass. One piece of advice for future visitors: Parking at Logan Pass is really crowded and difficult, so I'd recommend parking at The Loop, and taking the shuttle to Logan Pass before the hike. This way, your car is right there when you're done, and you don't have to bother with Logan Pass parking or waiting for the shuttle at the end of the day!

Day 5: Fish Lake & Avalanche Lake

Day 5 was my first true day on the West side. I stayed at San-Suz-Ed, which I actually found on AirBnb. It's an interesting mix of RV Park and Bed & Breakfast. I was on the Bed & Breakfast side of things :) It was clean, comfortable, had laundry, and was and well located. It did feel a bit like staying at a grandma's house, but that isn't a bad thing!

This was supposed to be my "go easy" day since my legs were starting to feel like they'd fall off my body, but I still ended up hiking a bunch over a couple shorter hikes.

The first hike I did was to Fish Lake. Honestly, there isn't too much to say about it. The hike reminded me of Northern CA mountains- hot, dry weather and pine trees. It didn't have much to offer in the way of views, and I got eaten alive by mosquitoes. The trail was very empty, which under other circumstances might feel very peaceful, but in bear country, it just made me feel nervous!

After Fish Lake, I hung around at Lake McDonald lodge to rest my legs, have a snack, and check out their impressive collection of mounted animal heads. Mainly, I wanted to kill some time before going over to Avalanche Lake, one of the most popular hikes in the park. I was hoping to miss the crowds by going on the later side, and I think I timed it pretty well (starting around 5:30 PM).

The hike is about 2 miles each way- and has a great payoff at the end for a short trek.

It may look pretty serene but there were a good number of people around! I probably waited 10 minutes for this photo spot to free up :D

After my "take it easy" day, I grabbed a bite (for the second night in a row) at West Glacier Restaurant which serves up tasty burgers, sandwiches, and ice cream.

Day 6: Apgar Lookout and Lake McDonald

On my last day in Glacier :( I went up to the Apgar Lookout, a viewpoint at the end of an uphill climb that feels pretty grueling in 90 degree heat. Have I mentioned that the weather was WAY HOTTER on the West side?

The views from the top were great- you could see for miles around. I feel like those kind of views don't always translate very well in photos, but here's one anyway!

When I finished the hike, it was only about 2:00, so I decided to go over to Apgar Village, which I hadn't checked out yet. It's a cute little area with a campground, hotel, and a few souvenir shops. It's right on Lake McDonald where there were lots of families enjoying the water.

While my legs were pretty beat at this point, my ARMS were fine, so I decided to take a kayak out for an hour. Despite my lack of kayaking experience, it was nice to be out on the water. I paddled over to an area where there were some bald eagles nesting, and even saw one in the nest! It was pretty far away, but still cool (and so patriotic on this 4th of July weekend!). Getting back to the dock, there was a pretty strong wind, and I wasn't sure I'd be strong enough to make it, but I guess those Pilates classes are doing something because my arms got me safely back to shore!

Lake McDonald (none of those people is me)

I gave Mexican food in Montana another try at La Casita. TripAdvisor gives it good marks, but I guess living in the Mission for 10 years has made me more picky than most about my burritos!

So with that, my trip to Glacier came to an end! The next morning, before heading to the airport, I drove over to Whitefish for a couple of hours. I was lucky to be in town on a day that they had a very cool art fair with lots of paintings, furniture and crafts. I wanted to take home a painted buffalo skull, but it wouldn't fit in my suitcase ;)

Glacier definitely lived up to my expectations, it's a beautiful place with so much to explore. I'd love to go back one day- to stay at Granite Park Chalet, and check out some of the hikes that were still covered in snow!

Glacier National Park: East Side

July 8, 2018

I just spent the last week in a place I've wanted to visit for a while: Glacier National Park in Montana! It was amazing, and I saw a lot. I'm going to split up my blog into two posts since there are two main sides of the park. For now, let's get into the East Side!

Breathtaking views abound! (this isn't even in the park, just nearby)

The park is huge, and I managed to see a good bit of it in a week, but there is still a lot there that I wish I could have done! Even in July, many of the most well-known hikes there were still closed because they were covered in snow. Guess I'll just have to go back again in the future (ideally in August next time :)

When I got in, I drove from the airport (on the West side) to the East side. I drove through the famous "Going-to-the-Sun-Road" which winds through the park. Unfortunately it was super rainy, so I didn't get to enjoy the legendary views- but don't worry, I drove it again in better weather.

This view is much better when not covered by clouds!

I stayed in Babb, at Glacier Trailhead Cabins, where I had my own cute little cabin super conveniently located to the park. The night I arrived, I went to dinner at Two Sisters Restaurant, where I ended up chatting up my waiter, Giancarlo. He had a couple days off while I was there, so we did a bunch of hiking together over the next few days.

Day 1: Two Medicine

My first full day at the park, I looked at the weather forecast, saw numbers in the 30s, and decided to seek out warmer temperatures. So I drove about an hour down to the Two Medicine area of the park. This was the day I learned not to bother looking at the weather- it was also pretty bad in Two Medicine! A ranger advised against doing the hike I wanted to do (Scenic Point) because of strong wind, so I ended up on a long but flat hike to Upper Two Medicine Lake. It had its beautiful moments, and it also rained about 75% of the time, which was...uncomfortable.

A brief pause in the rain for stunning views.

Those gray clouds in the background pretty much sum up the weather that day!

Even though I was very tired and my left foot was soaked (I'm not sure what happened to my boot!) there was another very short "Nature Walk" that I wanted to check out: Running Eagle Falls. It was worth the quick trip.

I definitely worked up an appetite, so went over to East Glacier for some Mexican food at Serrano's. It was....about what you'd expect from Mexican food in Montana. Also, it's up for sale in case you know anyone who wants to move to Montana and own a Mexican restaurant!

Since I was in the area, I also stopped to take a look inside the historic Glacier Park Lodge. It has a beautiful entryway, and the lobby is held up with beams made of huge trees. They even had a hipster dude playing guitar. The one photo I took isn't very good, so just use your imagination or click on their website.

Day 2: Iceberg Lake

On my second day, I met up with Giancarlo in the morning to hike to Iceberg Lake in the Many Glacier area of the park. It's not too hard, so there were lots of other people on the trail, but we still managed to find a bit of peace and quiet at the lake. We got all kinds of weather- sun, rain, and even a little hail. Pack your layers if you visit Glacier!

On the way back down, we ended up meeting another solo traveler named Joseph and convinced him to hang out with us. The boys even agreed to join me in this amazing photo.

A photographer once told me you should cross your ankles in a photo. What do you think?

That night, Giancarlo and I went to dinner at Babb Bar Cattle Barron Supper Club (really rolls off the tongue) where we wolfed down some delicious steaks, and afterwards, we saw a bear by the road!

Excuse the poor image quality, it's pretty zoomed in. Seeing a bear from the safety of the car is exactly how I wanted to see a bear.

Day 3: Cracker Lake

On my last full day on the East side, Giancarlo and I headed back to the Many Glacier area to hike to Cracker Lake. The first two miles of this trail are used by horses and it was NASTY. Super muddy and horse poop everywhere. Luckily I only fell in it once, and it was on the way back when we were almost done!

After the first couple of miles, it was a beautiful trail with loads of great views, like this one:

The lake itself is a stunning milky blue, which is most striking in the direct sunlight. We didn't get too much full sun, but just enough to snap some great pics!

Afterwards, we were so hungry we could barely move, so we grabbed a bite inside the park at Nell's, which was completely adequate.

The East side was a ton of fun! I got acquainted with the wild weather of the mountains, saw some beautiful sights, and even made a couple of new friends. On Day 4, I headed over to the West, which I'll cover in my next post!

Eat til you drop in Osaka! (plus a day trip to Nara)

April 16, 2018

Our last stop in Japan was two nights in Osaka with a day trip to Nara. Osaka is known for having a totally different personality than other big cities like Tokyo, for being louder, flashier, and always in search of good food and a good deal!

OSAKA

I read that the motto of Osaka is "kuidaore" ("eat until you drop") - so it only makes sense that most of our activities there revolved around food! The day we got in, we walked around the Dotonbori district, which is like a big, neon amusement park for food. Shops advertise their specialties with larger then life creatures and neon signs.

It was amusing to walk through, but we wanted to get a slightly more authentic taste of the city, so we booked a tour with Yuki from Inside Osaka. It was a great tour that I'd definitely recommend to anyone who wants a glimpse at local Osaka life. He took us to a few local spots and explained a lot about Osaka culture along the way.

First stop: Osaka specialty Takoyaki: batter filled with octopus. Yuki said that a lot of popular places on the street rush the process and the batter doesn't cook fully. This is a sixth-generation Takoyaki stand where they really take their time to… — First stop: Osaka specialty Takoyaki: batter filled with octopus. Yuki said that a lot of popular places on the street rush the process and the batter doesn't cook fully. This is a sixth-generation Takoyaki stand where they really take their time to do things right!

Second stop: A local Izakaya (informal standing up bar), where we tried some sake and a few Japanese foods like tofu and roasted peppers. He explained that a common way Japanese people can judge if a place has good food is to taste their dashi (brot… — Second stop: A local Izakaya (informal standing up bar), where we tried some sake and a few Japanese foods like tofu and roasted peppers. He explained that a common way Japanese people can judge if a place has good food is to taste their dashi (broth)- if that's good, they know what they're doing! He also told us that the bar after work is an important part of bonding with colleagues, and the only place it's acceptable to disagree with your boss!

Third stop: A grocery store which looks more like a video game arcade. It was just as bright and colorful inside, with loud music bumpin'! Yuki told us that in Osaka, everyone likes good food at a good price- this particular chain is known for their… — Third stop: A grocery store which looks more like a video game arcade. It was just as bright and colorful inside, with loud music bumpin'! Yuki told us that in Osaka, everyone likes good food at a good price- this particular chain is known for their 1 yen sales, where every day you can get certain items for only 1 yen!

Last stop: A great chicken restaurant! The best Japanese restaurants specialize in just one thing- if they have many different types of food (like sushi AND ramen) it's not likely to be as good. This place even had....CHICKEN SASHIMI (pictured above… — Last stop: A great chicken restaurant! The best Japanese restaurants specialize in just one thing- if they have many different types of food (like sushi AND ramen) it's not likely to be as good. This place even had....CHICKEN SASHIMI (pictured above). Yes, that's raw chicken. Restaurants can only serve it if the chicken has been killed that day, and it's a mark of a quality restaurant if they have it. I tried it, and it tasted like tuna sashimi. Will not be making this one at home :)

NARA

Nara is about an hour train ride from Osaka, and known for its temples and deer. We were getting a little tired of researching sights at this point, so decided to go on a tour with Nara Walk. Our guide wasn't as good as the others we experienced, but it was nice to have someone showing us where to go and giving us some background info.

First up, we met some of the famous deer, and fed them their favorite food, deer crackers!

Julia's caption for this photo: It's all fun and games until you run out of deer crackers!

We visited a shinto shrine where we prayed to the matchmaking god, saw a beautiful garden, and marveled at the world's largest buddha statue.

Moss covered lanterns leading to the shrine, purchased by wealthy believers to help fund the upkeep of the shrine.

We caught the last of the cherry blossoms in Nara!

This is the Todai-Ji temple that houses the Buddha- I've made some notes to try to communicate just how big the statue is!

It's hard to tell from the photo just how large he is!

After the tour, I had lunch at Maguro Koya, which looks like a hole in the wall, but has the best tuna sashimi I've ever tasted!

We headed back to Osaka after lunch and a little browsing (including a shop that had a live owl....normal?). They were having a sakura festival, even though most of the cherry blossoms were done blooming. As you'd expect in Osaka, there were tons of food booths selling all types of good eats. We had some of the most amazing dumplings ever, and a weird tostada thing made from tempura bits and covered in mayo. Not that good.

Even though the cherry blossoms were mostly gone, there were tons of blooming plum trees, and a crowded walkway to view them!

We enjoyed a glass of wine outside at the nearby Garden Oriental and then tried to go to a steak place for dinner. Well, we did GO there, but the offerings on the menu started at $150, which was a bit rich for our blood, so Julia called it a night and got some to-go food, and I went to FUKUTARO for some tasty Okonomiyaki.

And with that, our trip was almost at an end! We headed back to Tokyo for one more night before our flight home. I'll add what we did there to my original Tokyo blog post.

Where we stayed in Osaka: Mitsui Garden Hotel. We liked it a lot, though it was in more of a business district so not a lot to see in the immediate area.

A change of pace in Hiroshima and Miyajima

April 14, 2018

After four days packing in the sights in Kyoto, we were ready to slow things down just a little bit. We headed west to spend two nights between Hiroshima and Miyajima.

Of course, when most people think of Hiroshima, they think of the atomic bomb, and the city has some beautiful memorials to remember that tragic event during WWII.

Today, Hiroshima is a lively city like any other, and we found it to be refreshingly un-crowded compared to Kyoto and Tokyo. After finding our hotel, we started out at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial museum for some more history and context. The museum seemed to be the one place in Hiroshima that was super crowded, which detracted a bit from the overall experience. I thought the most moving parts were video footage of survivors of the bombing who described what it was like that day, and a room with stories, and articles of clothing from children who died in the bombing or from the after-effects of radiation.

We spent some time reflecting while walking around the peace park, which is alongside the “A-bomb dome” - the only (I think) structure that remains from the bombing, whose skeleton and rubble serve as a reminder of events from the past.

The park also has a peace flame, and children’s memorial, where school groups from around the world have left thousands of folded paper cranes.

For lunch, we tried to go to a Mediterranean restaurant near the museum, but it happened to be closed, so we went across the street to a super random French bistro called La Vague where we were the only customers. It only had a menu in Japanese so we had no idea what we ordered, but it turned out to be a delicious 4-course meal!

After our visit to the memorial site, we didn't have any particular agenda. We wandered around the gardens of Hiroshima Castle and made our way to the surprisingly lovely Shukkeiein Garden for a relaxing stroll.

For dinner, we wanted to try some okonomiyaki, a speciality of Hiroshima made by layering lots of ingredients on top of each other (a thin rice pancake, cabbage, egg, pork, noodles, etc). We found a place online called Lopez, which is run by a Guatemelan expat and his Japanese wife. Maybe not the most traditional option, but delicious nonetheless.

Miyajima

The island of Miyajima is an easy day trip from Hiroshima, and home to the famous orange Torii gate on the water, many deer, some shrines, and very delicious sweets in the shape of a maple leaf. We decided to stay overnight so we could check out a ryokan experience (more on that later)

During the day, we hiked to the top of Mt. Misen- an hour and a half of stairs, whew! The views at the top were great, though not as un-crowded as you’d expect because you can also take a cable car up there! We decided to take it down to spare our legs.

At the starting point, the Daisho-in temple, all the statues had tiny knitted hats to protect them from rain, wind and snow.

After the hike, we caught some of the sunset at the Torii gate, which is supposed to be one of the most spectacular times to see it (I believe that after witnessing it!)

After snapping some photos, we headed back to our ryokan, called I waso. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn/B&B, with tatami mat rooms, communal baths and delicious meals. Our place was super nice, and HUGE compared to the hotels and AirBnbs that we’d been staying in, plus we had our own hostess who was the sweetest thing ever. I didn't sleep very well on the futon beds, but it's all part of the experience I guess!

Dinner time! (in our traditional clothes to match the setting)

Welcome tea and a local sweet (maple leaf shaped cake filled with red bean paste)

Overall we really loved Miyajima, it ended up being our overall favorite experience of the trip. While many do it in a day trip, I'd definitely recommend staying overnight to anyone visiting Japan!

Temples, geisha and rain in Kyoto

April 12, 2018

We just wrapped up four cold, wet, packed days in Kyoto! There’s a lot of history and both man-made and natural beauty to take in. I think we were both surprised by how big and crowded Kyoto was, and the 50-degree, rainy weather made it a little harder to enjoy being outside soaking in the sites.

This sums up our visit to Kyoto pretty well.

We stayed at an AirBnb about a 10-minute walk to Kyoto station. Being near the station was convenient because all trains and busses start and eventually end up there, however, almost all the activities we wanted to do were at least 45 minutes away. So we got to know the Kyoto bus system really well :)

Day 1:

We departed Lake Kawaguchiko in the morning and bus > train > walked and finally arrived to Kyoto in the afternoon. We headed over to Nishiki food market, which is sort of like the Ferry Building on steroids- tons of foods, ingredients, and souvenirs to browse.

We toasted to our first day in Kyoto at a small sake brain the market and then strolled around the Gion neighborhood a bit.

Gion is probably what you picture when you think of Kyoto- has very traditional wooden buildings, narrow streets, and discrete restaurants. It’s known for Geisha sightings, but we only saw people dressed up in costume taking photos (apparently a popular pastime for Japanese tourists). We had dinner at a small place that I’d describe as a Japanese pub, called Beer Komachi and as usual, called it an early night!

Along the riverside (canalside?) in Gion

The next day, we woke up bright and early for our bike tour. We met up with the group only to discover that we'd actually booked for the following day! So we went into the tourist information office to quickly cobble together a backup plan. We decided to hit up some of the major tourist attractions (and, predictably, so did every other tourist in Kyoto...the crowds were intense!)

I'm not sure anyone cares too much about the details, so here is a brief look at what we saw!

1. Nijo Castle: The most interesting parts are inside, where they don't let you take photos. No photos is an excellent policy for keeping people moving along. Most interesting thing I learned here: Japanese people used to believe that cheetahs were female tigers.

2. Golden Pavilion: The most famous temple in Kyoto! Beautiful, loads of people, and where it started raining and didn't stop!

LUNCH BREAK! Even though it's on Google Maps, Fuka felt like a lovely hidden gem. Run by a really cute old man and his wife.

3. Ginkaku-ji temple: Beautiful gardens - very lush and green, plus a cool sand garden thing.

4. Kiyomizu-dera temple: So wet. So crowded. Must. Keep. Sightseeing. We were getting a little grumpy at this point in the day.

We were so tired we didn't even get a good picture of this temple. This is the best we got.

BONUS: Julia in a cool store with a bunch of rabbit-themed items.

Even though it may seem like we saw a lot, it was actually still fairly early in the day by the time we were all worn out. So we headed back to Gion for an early dinner (and well-deserved bottle of wine) at Gion Manzara which was a cozy-yet elegant restaurant with lots of good small plates to share,

DAY 3

The day of our actual bike tour! Our bike tour took us for a lovely, and chilly ride along the Kamo river, and to three other interesting sights around the city:

Heian-Jingu Shrine: This is a shinto shrine, where they seem to have a lot of interest in luck and fortunes. You can pay to get a fortune, and if it's bad, you can tie it onto a post for ritual burning, or you can write a wish and leave it at the temple. They had a wall of bad luck years (which are different for men and women) and wouldn't you know it, age 33 is the worst age right now for women! Sorry to all my fellow 33-year olds.

Ritual cleansing fountain at the shrine. Don't drink out of those ladles!

Next, we made our way to the Nanzen-ji temple, which is a Zen-Buddhist temple (fun fact: the way you can tell the difference between shinto and Buddhist temples is that Buddhist temples have human statues in them). It also has a functioning and very photogenic aqueduct- random!

After a lovely ride along the Philosopher's Path (so-named for the philosophy professor who supposedly walked the path daily pondering existentialism and the like), we returned to the station and warmed up with a hot bowl of ramen from Ippudo. Ippudo is an international but very delicious ramen chain- there's one in the "Porta" section of the Kyoto station which was not very crowded!

Philosopher's Path- are you sick of spring flower photos yet?

Warmed up from the ramen we were ready to head out again- and hopped on the train over to Fushimi-Inari-Taisya shrine, known for its 10,000 vermillion torii gates. At first it was miserably crowded, like we could barely walk through the gates it was so crowded, but the further along we went, the fewer people there were.

There's one section with two sets of gates parallel to each other, and people only walk on one side, so this lady was taking some photos in the other set of gates. It looks deceptively uncrowded!

After our visit, it started raining again, hooray. We escaped the weather with drinks at the super cute B ar Rocking Chair,

Relaxing near Mt. Fuji

April 8, 2018

We decided to give a full day and night to a visit to Mt. Fuji. We left Tokyo at 8:30 for a pleasant hour train ride to a packed station where every other tourist in Japan was also trying to get to Mt. Fuji (less pleasant). We figured out how to buy tickets, and then crammed into the next train which was so full we didn't have seats (which seems to be unusual on long train rides here).

Finally we arrived to Lake Kawaguchiko, dropped our things off at the hotel and got our first great views of Mt. Fuji! I'd read that it can be hit or miss- that if it's cloudy out you might never see Fuji, so I think we got pretty lucky. The sky was a bit hazy, but we still loved the views and the cherry blossoms made it all the more beautiful

Our hotel receptionist said that this tree right outside the building is the prettiest one in town!

Then we got back on another train to visit the Chureito Pagoda, where you can climb 400 stairs (easier than it sounds) for breathtaking views.

The rest of the day we spent relaxing at our hotel's onsen, a traditional communal bath, with a view of the mountain. Julia did some yoga, but I've been sitting here working on my blog! Now off to dinner and then tomorrow: Kyoto!

Sisters take Tokyo

April 7, 2018

My sister Julia and I have both been wanting to visit Japan and decided to finally make it happen! We chose to visit during April to catch some of the famous cherry blossoms in season. First stop: Tokyo.

Day 1 in Tokyo:
Getting to Tokyo takes a looooong time! After a flight delay due to a problem with the bathroom, and 12 hours in the air, we arrived in Tokyo, waited in a long line to get our JR pass, took an hour and a half train ride into the city, found our apartment and had finally arrived! Even though we were deliriously tired, we went out to Tempura Tsunahachi, a restaurant specializing in tempura, where we enjoyed a tasty meal and then promptly went to bed.

Day 2
We managed to sleep pretty well and were up by 8 to get to sight-seeing. We walked to Shinkjuku Gyoen National Garden park to witness the cherry blossoms in full bloom. We took lots of photos and walked around to different areas of the garden. While we were relaxing and discussing where to go next, someone overheard us and said we should check out Ueno park if we wanted to see more cherry blossoms.

Getting our first full day off to a great start!

Before moving on to the next park, we made a stop at Yabu Soba for handmade soba. It was tasty but a little plain for me, but we got our own little tatami room which was cute (and uncomfortable).

Bellies full of noodles, we headed to the park, which reminded me of the Dolores Park of Japan. There were tons of people picnicking, drinking, and having a great time. Another area had lots of food vendors selling everything from octopus to cotton candy.

It was fun to see, but the crowds were a little overwhelming, so we decided to head out of there and check out Yanaka, a historic neighborhood nearby. It was much more calm, with a few cute shops and cafes along the way to a main street with a bunch of food vendors and restaurants. After a bit of a nap at home, we wandered around our neighborhood a bit, grabbing some cocktails at a jazz bar called Dug (not very Japanese!), and then dinner at a Yakitori restaurant whose name we've already forgotten.

Day 3:
On our third day in Tokyo, we started out at the Meiji Shrine, which is nestled in a beautiful wooded park. We wandered around a bit, and paid a few dollars to walk through the empress’s former private tea house and garden area it was a beautiful and peaceful escape from Tokyo madness.

There's a huge wall of sake bottles at the shrine- great photo spot :)

The Harijuku neighborhood is super close to the shrine, so we headed there next- what a contrast! The main street, Takeshita Dori was wall to wall with people. Plenty of tourists but also lots of young Japanese girls...I kept wondering why they weren't in school! We followed our curiosity down some stairs and found ourselves in a photo-booth arcade (that's the best description I can come up with). Basically you go in one of dozens of different photo booths, take a bunch of pictures, and then edit them to add stickers, change your eye color, and more. It's probably easier to understand by just looking at the results:

After wandering around looking at lots of cute stuff and photogenic desserts (like a huge cotton candy, and Japan's longest soft-serve) we headed off the main drag to finally have some ramen at Kyushi Jangara, which was recommended to me by someone.

Following that we did a little more window shopping on Cat Street (which has mostly international stores so was not that interesting) and made our way to Yoyogi Park, another popular cherry blossom spot where lots of locals were picnicking and enjoying the afternoon.

We rested our feet for a few, then headed out to Omotesandō, which is a tree-lined avenue with all the major high end stores. Our destination was Anniversaire, which has a lovely outdoor cafe where we enjoyed some wine and sweets.

After our afternoon rest, we headed out to the Park Hyatt bar- famous for its appearance in Lost in Translation. We felt very classy (and underdressed) drinking some expensive drinks, then headed home where we struggled to stay away past 9 PM after our long day of sightseeing!

Views on views from the New York Bar at the Park Hyatt hotel

Day 4
On our last day (for now) in Tokyo, we paid a visit to Senso-Ji, the oldest temple in Tokyo. There are tons of small souvenir and sweets shops leading up to the entrance, so we did some browsing and bought a couple of souvenirs along the way.

While I can't say we absorbed much of the history of the place, it was beautiful to see, especially with the cherry blossoms in season.

Next up, we headed over to the Naka-Meguro (aka Nakame), another popular spot to view cherry blossoms. We had a lovely lunch at a French restaurant called Huit, which was a nice little change of pace from Japanese food. We strolled along the river for a while; towards the end were lots of cute little restaurants selling sparkling rosé to enjoy outdoors.

We wrapped up our visit to Tokyo with dinner with some of my Google colleagues, who were in town from SF for work. We ate at Inakaya East, where you sit around the chef and basically point at what you want and he'll cook it for you. It was a bit touristy, but a good time and we had some delicious sea food.

Next we headed off to the famous tourist attraction, the Robot Restaurant (actually more of a show than a restaurant). It's a bit hard to describe- people dressed as robots and other anime-like characters, banging drums, dancing, singing, with plenty of lasers, neon and loud music.

Staying up past 11 was a super late night for us, so we headed right to bed to rest up for our journey to Mt. Fuji the next morning!

FINAL DAY IN TOKYO (post-Osaka)

We returned to Tokyo for one last day before we flew home. This time, we had a hotel in the Ginza area, one of the ritzy shopping areas in Tokyo, great for people watching and window shopping.

We didn't have any more sightseeing plans, but happened to open up Google Maps which now tells you about local festivals and events going on. We saw that there was a wine event going on 15 minutes from our hotel, and that was all we needed to see! 15 minutes later, we found ourselves in a pleasant park at a tasting event for Japanese wineries. For about $20, we got a glass and a bunch of tasting tickets. We weren't sure exactly what varieties we were tasting, but we were sure that none of them were very good! Sorry to any Japanese winemakers who may be reading this (unlikely), but we'll stick to our California grapes for now.

Even though the wine wasn't very good, it was a really fun afternoon trying something different and enjoying relaxing in our last day in Tokyo.

Of course, we had to close out the trip with one last bowl of ramen, this time from Kagari Ramen, inside the Ginza subway station. They make a chicken ramen, which is apparently not common, but it was incredibly delicious!

Unfortunately I spent the night battling food poisoning :( I don't know what caused it, but it wasn't the best way to end my trip!

Not letting a sore stomach slow us down, we managed to squeeze in a couple more quick activities the next morning. We went to the fish market, but I'm not sure we saw the most interesting parts- we just kind of walked around the tourist area. I think this would be a sight best seen with a tour guide.

Then, we wandered over to the nearby Hama-Rikyu garden to kill a little more time and get some more walking in before the flight

A beautiful oasis surrounded by skyscrapers!

OMG Oaxaca!

November 5, 2017

My main motivation to visit Oaxaca was to experience Dia de los Muertos, but there is so much more to see, do, and eat to warrant many blog posts! I tried to condense my experience into one, since I know even my own parents wouldn't read that much of my blog.

Oaxaca is an amazing city to wander around. There were a few days when I had no agenda besides just wandering around- popping in to stores, galleries, and museums and eating lots of good food. There are also plenty of wonderful organized activities you can take part in. Here's what I did:

While wandering around, you're bound to stumble on some beautiful courtyards like this one!

Tours & Activities

There are loads of tour companies in Oaxaca. I tried some of the top ones and they are all deserving of their good reputations! I could say much more about each of these (and bore you with many more photos) so if you ever go to Oaxaca and want to hear more I would be happy to share.

Cooking class with Casa de los Sabores - A cooking class was a must for me, I try to learn a bit more about local cuisine wherever I go. With this class, we shopped for groceries (and saw some special Day of the Dead items) at the Merced market, then hopped in taxis to head to the teacher (Pilar)’s home just a short ride from the center. Her house was beautiful, and the best part was she had a ceiling that retracts like a convertible for when the cooking gets smoky (or I suppose just for generally enjoying the weather)

Dried chiles. Essential in Mexican cooking!

We all helped to prepare black mole, soup, rice, and a dessert with tiny little apples. The mole was (as you’d expect) the most interesting part. It had about 1200 ingredients and so. many. steps. You cook a bunch of ingredients one by one in the same lard (like almonds, peanuts, and plantains), then take them out, and blend them all together in a blender (or by hand if you are an ancient person). Then you blend lots of other things, like tomatoes and tomatillos. You remove the seeds from dried chiles, and blend just the flesh. But you keep the seeds, and then you light them on fire under a tostada! Then you blend up that charred stuff too. And you add it all the the pan. Clearly I’m not representing the recipe accurately, but you get the idea! It was delicious and everyone in the class was super friendly which made it an extra good time.

Mole in progress. Pilar supervises Ron, who sports an adorable pink apron.

Cuajimoloyas with Tierraventura - I joined up on an already planned tour with this company, run by Claudia who is from Germany but has been living in Mexico for 20 years. We went to the mountain village of Cuajimoloyas where a local guide told us all about native medicinal plants. The climate up there was super cold! And it started raining at the end of our hike. Yikes! I was surprised to see tons of mezcal plants growing right alongside pine trees. It was a little bit slow paced for me, but was pretty cool to see a completely different climate so close to Oaxaca city. We even saw a mini parade of the village kids getting ready for Dia de los Muertos. Claudia was taking that same group on a visit to one of the cemeteries to see some of the Muertos preparations, so she invited me to tag along, which was very kind, and ended up being an awesome experience.

Hierve el Agua with Zapotrek: Hierve el Agua is a “petrified waterfall” formed from years of mineralized water slowly dripping off a cliffside, as well as some natural pools. You can just take a bus there, but I love doing things the hard way, so decided to hike there! I went with Zapotrek, which hikes there from a nearby village about 14K away. It was just myself, one other tourist, and two guides with us, and it was an awesome way to visit the site.

The hike took about 4 hours, winding through lush mountainside with agave fields aplenty. We stopped part of the way through and made our way up a river to a small waterfall surrounded by stunning colorful rock formations. (Bring water shoes if you ever do this. Plastic Birkenstocks don't quite do the job)

The trek was a bit harder than I expected- but I felt like I really earned the views at the end! The pools and surrounding mountains were really breathtaking.

Teotitlán del Valle with Envia - Envia is a very cool organization that provides no-interest micro loans and business education to local women to help them start a business. The take tour groups to visit some of these women and learn about their trades, which is the main source of funding for the organization. We had a Dia de los Muertos themed tour, which meant we also not only learned about weaving from a local woman, but also see how some families prepare for the holiday. Our guides were two very sweet and enthusiastic young women who helped translate and told us about the organization's work. It was awesome all around and I'd absolutely recommend them.

Juvia showing us the weaving process. I bought one of her rugs to take home!

A local family's altar for Dia de los Muertos

Jardín Etnobotánico - My first day, I didn't have much of a plan but wanted a guided tour of some kind, so I joined the tour of the Jardín Etnobotánico where I learned about a bunch of different types of plants and a bit of history, which I’ve already forgotten. It was not a must-do, but is the only way to see the gardens near the old monastery, so #noregrets.

Monte Alban - I did NOT go on an organized tour here and regret it terribly! I thought I could just find a guide for hire once I got there by bus (that's what I'd read online in forums), but there were no guides to be found. They have signage in English which helps some, but everyone I talked to who had a guide seemed to have gotten a lot more out of it. Here's a picture, but we'll never know what it's of because I DIDN'T GET A GUIDE

Museums

I wasn't in a super museum-y mood on my trip, but I still paid quick visits to three of the city's museums. I was....not that impressed.

Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca - I am sure there is someone who finds this museum interesting but that someone is not me. Maybe it's because there were no explanations in English so I didn't understand much. It does have a treasure hoard from Monte Alban, which was cool, and the building itself is an old monastery with nice views

MACO (modern art) - Most of this museum seemed to be empty, signs said they were preparing for future exhibits. They had some interesting video art, and a beautiful building with a nice courtyard. Also there were plenty of places to sit down, which I liked :)

Museo Textil is a small museum that only takes about 20 minutes to check out. While I was there they had an exhibit on Mulas (which I also have seen in Colombia), quilts (boring), and some really unique and beautiful art made with wire:

Eats & Drinks

I ate a lot of meals as part of tours or sometimes was so full from a big lunch that I just had a snack for dinner. But here are the restaurants that I visited that I'd recommend! They'll all Oaxacan food unless otherwise mentioned. Most of these are in Lonely Planet, nothing terribly original :)

Casa Oaxaca - The sister restaurant to my hotel, though not in the same building. I ate here for my last night as it's widely regarded as the best restaurant in the city and seemed like a great way to end my visit. They make salsa for you right at the table, and everyone was super friendly and accommodating (they even gave me a half portion of an appetizer since I was just one person). Reservations are recommended, otherwise you'll face San Francisco-level wait times. They have an upstairs patio with outdoor seating (where I was able to see a fireworks show!) and live music. My bill for half an app, entree, 2 drinks, and dessert was $30. I love Mexico.

Los Danzantes - Another place that is considered one of the best restaurants in Oaxaca, I actually also ate here on my last day (but for lunch). It always seemed really crowded when I walked by at dinnertime, but I showed up for lunch just before they opened and had no problem getting a table. It's in a lovely and peaceful courtyard. Personally I preferred Casa Oaxaca but Danzantes is worth checking out.

Zandunga - I greatly enjoyed both my meal and drinks, and the atmosphere is cool, too. More casual than the two above. It was pretty busy, but getting a seat at the bar was no problem.

La Biznaga - Nice outdoor courtyard and good food. The drinks were strangely really, really, bad. Like, almost undrinkable. The first cocktail I had was yucky and I didn't finish it. Then I ordered a Paloma and whatever they gave me tasted like a flat sprite with no alcohol in it. So maybe stick with a beer if you go here.

Tierra del Sol - A good place, but I was really tired when I went here so I have to say it was not super memorable.

Gourmand - This is a little deli that is great for when you want to cleanse your palate from all the mole you'll surely eat in Oaxaca. I got a nice cobb salad that I think my body appreciated.

"Meat Street" at the 20 de Noviembre market - Not its official name, but that's what I call it. A hot, loud, intimidating stretch of the market where they'll grill you up some fresh meat, which you can enjoy with tortillas, salsa, and grilled veggies. You have to purchase each of these components separately, from some people walking around. It was a little bit difficult, but you can figure it out if you speak a little Spanish. And it was super delicious!

Boulenc - I just got a coffee and pastry to-go here, but they also have a sit-down cafe. They have Parisian style pastries that are sooooo good, and a bunch of jarred foods that would probably make lovely souvenirs if you wanted to check a bag.

Cafe los Cuiles - I ate a super rushed breakfast here but enjoyed it all the same. There is also a really cool pottery store in the same plaza where it's located.

Sabina Sabe - I went just for drinks, but the food is supposed to be good, too. They have a generous mezcal tasting, which I tried, but sipping mezcal is just not for me. It was a fun place nonetheless.

Where I stayed

I stayed for 5 nights at Casa Oaxaca, which was amazing! It was beautiful, the service was outstanding and the included breakfast was a dream. My only complaint is that the building is LOUD at night so I really put my earplugs to use. They didn't have a room for my full stay, so I had to move to the not amazing (but cheap) Hotel Santa Helena Plaza. It was definitely in a more local area; the neighboring businesses were stereo and hardware stores. It was about a 20 min walk from the tourist center, so I wouldn't really recommend it. Though I will say, the Wi-Fi there was great.

If you've made it to the end of this post, congratulations. It was a doozy. I LOVED Oaxaca and if you haven't been there already, put it on your bucket list!

Día de los Muertos in Oaxaca

November 2, 2017

Dia de los Muertos is a truly special time to explore Oaxaca. I’ll admit I didn’t know much about Dia de los Muertos before I went to Oaxaca, just that I'd seem some photos, and knew I wanted to see it for myself. It turned out to be one of the most interesting and spectacular things I’ve seen!

Dia de los Muertos is not Mexican Halloween; it’s a time when Mexican families remember, and welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives. There are many traditions associated with the holiday- which I’ll try to illustrate through some of my photos. It also seems to be a good excuse for a party :) Throughout the week I was there, there were countless parades, dancing, concerts, fireworks, and more to celebrate the holiday.

The whole town gets into the spirit. Everywhere you look there are colorful displays, giant skeletons, and altars.

The skeletons you see all around town are called 'catrinas,' which originally were a parody of a the upper-class. These ones are outside the Xoxo cemetery (that's Claudia, one of the tour guides I met during my trip)

Huge catrina outside the library (which also had an exhibit of altars)

Special street art near the cemetary to celebrate (they refresh them every year)

There are also plenty of parades aka comparsas throughout the city. Some are officially organized, and others just seem to kind of spring up.

Preparations are sold in markets all over town in the days leading up to Dia de los Muertos: special bread (pan de muertos) and flowers are two of the key ingredients!

Pan! The more common one has a little head baked into it, but I thought this was a prettier photo.

Women selling flowers in the market in Teotitlán del Valle

On the 31st and the 1st, families visit the graves of their loved ones to clean them, place flowers, and sometimes even decorate. I was told that some families stay at the cemetery all night to welcome their relatives' souls (though I didn't stay to see that)

A grave at the old cemetery at Xoxo (one of the more elaborate decorations we saw)

Tons of tourists flock to the cemeteries to capture photos (myself included....though I just use my cell phone not a huge fancy camera like these guys)

And of course, there is lots of great people watching/people-photographing to be done. Almost everyone seems to get their face painted (even the gringos) and there are some really impressive costumes as well!

A handmade costume won the 'catrinas' costume contest in barrio Xochimilco (she won 3,000 MXN which is like $150 USD- a pretty big prize!)

Altars for the deceased are also an important tradition. We got the chance to visit a family's altar in Teotitlán del Valle, which was a great way to see how real people still keep traditions alive today. Many restaurants and shops also set up beautiful altars.

The small altar on the left is for los angelitos - deceased children — The small altar on the left is for *los angelitos -* deceased children

A more modern altar in a restauarnt in Oaxaca city.

Sand tapestries, aka tapetes de arena can also be found around town, with either Catholic or indigenous imagery. I even got the chance to help make one at my hotel- it represented the 13 months of the Zapotec calendar. I think I need some more practice before I go pro though, it was hard work!

The hotel staff made this one....my panel is the one on the left, with the orange flower thingie.

I'm so glad that I got to fulfill my bucket-list wish of visiting Oaxaca during this magical time. It seemed like everywhere I turned, there was something interesting going on, and it made an already beautiful city even more colorful and dynamic. It's definitely an experience I'd recommend!

The arches of Arches

June 7, 2017

My fifth and final of the “Mighty Five” was Arches National Park, known for the many beautiful natural arches. I got an early start to try and avoid both the crowds and the afternoon heat and was able to see/hike everything that was open in about 5 hours (and then it was ay too hot for me!)

My first stop was the most famous of the arches, Delicate Arch, reached by a 1.5 mile crowded trail (even at 7:30 AM). The arch was stunning, but it was almost impossible to get a photo of it without tourists in it- there was literally a line to take a picture under it. I figured if everyone else was doing it, I’d get one too :)

After that, I visited….all the other arches which are very cool in real life but these photos will probably be kind of boring because they’re well, just a bunch of pictures of arches!

Broken Arch (because it has a crack at the top, but I think it's only visible from the other side)

Tapestry Arch featuring the most annoying person I saw all day. His friend was making multiple videos of him running down the arch and then yelling something at the end. Even from how far away I was, I could hear him. Ah, nature.

Sanstone Arch- the hike to get to it is super short, but I liked it a lot, you hike through a narrow canyon. It was like The Narrows, but in the desert.

One of "The Windows." See the teeny people in this photo? That's how big the arch is!

Overall, I loved the arches, but the hordes of tourists kind of ruined the mood. The park is really easy to get to from Moab and the trails are very accessible, which means lots and lots of visitors. It’s great that so many people can experience the beauty of the park, but the crowds and all the silly photos they were taking got very tiresome!

I also made it to one other arch that isn't part of the park: Corona Arch. At the trailhead to that arch, there are two different trails: one that goes to the arch and one that actually seems pretty well traveled but goes....NOWHERE! The first time I went, I hiked to the nowhere trail. It was very sweaty and disappointing. But my last morning I was determined to make it to Corona Arch, and this time got on the right track! It was an easy mile hike, and the arch was stunning. Of course, some annoying person ruined the moment by having a drone flying around.

My trip to Utah was amazing, and now I'm back at work, womp womp :( So long for now, stay tuned for my next adventure!

Two sides of Canyonlands

June 4, 2017

On Friday, I hit the road early for a long and packed day visiting two state parks and Canyonlands National Park. Canyonlands actually has three different sections, I visited one of the other two on Sunday, so will share some pictures of both in one post!

In between Torrey and the Moab area is a small state park called Goblin Valley, so-called because of the weird rock formations that look like goblins. I swear, Utah has more interesting rock shapes than anywhere else in the world. It wasn't actually all that interesting, and ultimately probably not worth the detour of ~an hour, but hey, YOLO.

The big one in the middle looks like a dog-goblin to me

After a couple more hours of driving (and completing the very excellent audio book Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah) I arrived at Dead Horse Point State Park, a destination I'd really been looking forward to! I've read a couple different explanations of the name, but the one from the park itself is that legend has it that the point was used as a corral for wild mustangs roaming the mesa. Cowboys would choose the horses they wanted, and (for reasons unknown) leave the others corralled on the waterless point where they died of thirst. Not a very pleasant story for such a beautiful place!

You can drive to the major viewpoints, but I chose to do the easy hike to them and even found a Norwegian couple to take a photo of me.

After my little hike, I carried on to the Island in the Sky area of Canyonlands National Park. I actually didn't know what to expect since I hadn't done much research on this park, but the friendly ranger helped to suggest several short hikes for me to do some sightseeing. The park is another HUGE canyon, with views that are easy to glimpse without very rigorous hiking involved. I did three short hikes: Mesa Arch, Grand View Point, and White Rim overlook, each offering different viewpoints over the impressive canyon.

Mesa Arch: supposed to be most impressive at sunrise, but I can't wake up that early, so this midday view will have to do.

End of the White Rim Overlook trail. Sheer drop into the canyon at the edge, eek!

A couple days later, I visited another part of the park called The Needles, which is about an hour and a half drive from Moab (Island is the Sky is about an hour drive in the other direction). Here, I did the biggest single trail of my trip, the 11 mile Chesler/Joint Trail hike.

Man, 11 miles is a long time! It took me about 5.5 hours to finish it, and it. was. HOT. Over 90 degrees the whole time! At the beginning of the trail I met some other hikers, but once I was past about 3 miles in, I literally did not see another person. It was peaceful, but also made me paranoid that maybe I was on the wrong trail and also about getting attacked by a mountain lion (even though they don't have those here).

The trail featured lots of difference desert scenery: rocks to scramble up, the big rock formations that give The Needles its name, and even a couple of sections where you walk in between giant rocks through openings only about 18 inches wide (a little scary, but the shade was amazing). Here are a few of my favorite views from the day:

It looks shady in this photo, but it was not shady. Anywhere.

Mile 9 (which is also mile 2) where a nice family took this picture for me.

The Needles was my last stop on my trip, and it was nice to accomplish such a challenging hike on my last day! Tomorrow I might actually do one more small hike (one that I got lost on the first time I tried it!) since my flight doesn't leave until the late afternoon. Then, back to the real world!

Rad rocks and rainclouds in Capitol Reef

June 3, 2017

There are five National Parks in Utah aka “The Mighty Five,” and I’m going to hit all of them in my weeklong road trip (aka “the best week of your life” according to the Visit Utah website). The least-visited of the five is Capitol Reef, conveniently located in between the Zion/Bryce Canyon area and Moab. So that’s where I spent the day today!

I expected it to be super hot and sunny here, because I am an idiot who never checks the weather. So imagine my surprise when the rangers at the visitor’s station warned of the risk lightning storms and flash flooding. This meant any hikes in a canyon or exposed would be too dangerous. They recommended a couple where I would probably not die of a natural disaster, and I set out to explore them.

It might look sunny in the photo- but look at those rainclouds in the background!

But then it started raining. So, I took cover and ate my sandwich. But then it started POURING. So, instead of the hike, I turned to Plan B: the scenic drive. What could go wrong on a lovely scenic drive, right?

Well, what can go wrong on a lovely scenic drive is that the rain can create flash floods, which create mini rivers that block the road and that you have drive through, like in the Oregon Trail days but with more risk of wrecking your rental car!

So, that was kind of scary. But I remembered that I have this great HDR photo app on my iPhone and, since I wasn’t in a hurry to get anywhere, this seemed like the great opportunity to try it out. As a result of the app, and the awesome light from the clouds and sun, I got some great photos.

Don't you love my attempt at an artsy photo, featuring all those people down below gawking at the mud river in the road?

It finally stopped raining, and I REALLY wanted to get out of the car, so I hit the Colob Canyon trail. It starts out with a short climb, where you can get amazing views of the area, and then goes into the canyon, where there are all kinds of interesting rock formations.

I made it about halfway as far as I wanted to go, and then heard the sound of thunder in the distance. Not wanting to hike in the rain, or worse, hike on a flooded and muddy dangerous trail, I decided to turn around. Just as I reached my car it started raining again, so I think I made the right choice!

After chilling at my motel for a little while, I ended up going back to the park to try one more hike, the Fremont Gorge Overlook. But then it started getting kind of cold, and the trail was a little boring, so I turned around about half way, opting to get dinner instead of seeing what the viewpoint had to offer. Very adventurous, I know!

Despite the bad weather and stressful driving, I really enjoyed Capitol Reef. It was blissfully un-crowded, and the views were spectacular- even from the road! Next stop on The Mighty Five: Canyonlands!

Hanging with the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon

June 1, 2017

Greetings from Torrey, Utah! Yesterday, I spent the day exploring the other-worldly Bryce Canyon (about a 2 hour drive from Zion).

Like Zion, it has a convenient shuttle in town, so I hopped on and stopped at the visitor center to get a map and some hike recommendations (and also to accidentally leave behind one of my two phones, which someone turned in to the lost & found #blessed).

The unique feature of Bryce Canyon are the insane rock spires called hoodoos (thank you to whatever insane person named those); the canyon is full of them! The rim of the canyon at Sunset Point is super accessible, which means hoards of tourist busses, but the views are worth it, despite the crowds.

Sunset Point is also the place where some of the trails down into the canyon start. I told the ranger at the visitor center I wanted an un-crowded trail, and she recommended the Peek-a-Boo Loop, so that’s where I headed. While the views from the top were cool, being down in the canyon was even better. The trail meanders in and out of the hoodoos, with more interesting scenery around every turn.

The "Wall of Windows" on the Peek-a-Boo loop

Following that hike, I hopped back on the shuttle to Bryce Point, which has a view of…you guessed it: EVEN MORE HOODOOS. After taking 1 million more photos, I set out on an easy, flat trail around the rim, stopping at a couple more lookouts, and ultimately making my way back to Sunset Point.

After hiking 10+ miles among the Hoodoos, I was so ready to get some dinner. I stopped off at my very unglamorous motel in the nearby town of Panguitch, then headed to the guidebook-recommended Cafe Adobe where I scarfed down one of the best burger & fries I’ve ever had. Next stop on the national parks tour: Capitol Reef!

Hiking around Southern Utah Part. 1: Zion!

June 1, 2017

I've been back at work for almost two months now post-sabbatical, and overall it's good to be back, but traveling is so much more fun! I wanted to take advantage of the long Memorial Day weekend to hit the road again. Lame as it sounds, I'd been seeing a lot of awesome Instagram photos of Southern Utah, and it looked like I place I wanted to visit! So a couple of weeks ago I booked a somewhat last minute trip to drive and hike around, from Zion to Moab.

I flew into Las Vegas and rented a car for the ~3 hour drive to Springdale, where Zion National Park is located. I made my first ever visit to a Del Taco along the way, where I promptly squirted hot sauce all over my new pants. For some reason I thought I'd get to Zion by noon, which was delusional, because I actually arrived around 3. After checking in to my hotel, the completely satisfactory and very expensive Holiday Inn Express, I hopped on the free shuttle over to the park (doing nature stuff in the USA is like visiting Disneyland: shuttles, narration, lines!)

I decided to do a couple of easy/moderate hikes, since there was still a lot of daylight left, but not quite enough time to tackle one of the really long and well-known hikes. So I hopped off the shuttle at the Emerald Pools trailhead where you can stop at three natural pools. It's a very easy hike to the first pool, and then you can keep going about a mile to an upper pool. Even though the hike was not very challenging, it still offered some beautiful scenery and was a nice introduction to the park.

That's the Emerald Pool in the background :)

Next I took the shuttle to the museum to pick up a super short and flat trail called the Pa'rus Trail, which was very nicely devoid of any other tourists and very peaceful at that time of the evening. I followed it back to the visitor center, which is where The Watchman Trail begins. It's about a 3 mile loop, and is supposed to have great views at sunset. But I left the top before the sun fully set because I realized I didn't want to hike down in the dark, and also because the sun set at 8:45, and most of the restaurants in town are closed by 9!

It's kind of sunset-y in the background, right?

On Day 2, it was time to tackle The Narrows, one of the two most famous hikes of Zion. Arriving to the park in the morning was a totally different experience than the previous afternoon. The crowds were HUGE, it was a 30 min+ wait just to get on the park shuttle, so I ended up not getting to the trailhead until about 11:00. The hike to The Narrows starts with an easy, paved 1 mile walk. Then, you arrive to the river, which is where the whole hike takes place!

I changed into my rented river shoes/boots, neoprene socks, and waterproof pants, and got my river stick ready! I was terrified that I'd be freezing in the water, but whether it was the pants or just that the water was a nice temperature, I ended up not being cold at all.

Check out the waterproof pants and stick: essential Narrows gear! (actually not because some people were hiking it in jean shorts and barefoot...) — Check out the waterproof pants and stick: essential Narrows gear! (actually not because some people were hiking it in jean shorts and barefoot...)

The Narrows is unlike any other hike I've done, you're hiking IN the river for about 80% of the time- sometimes up to your waist.

You can hike as much or as little as you want. At the beginning there are lots of people, even some people carrying babies in backpacks! But of course, the further you go, the fewer people there are. I ended up walking out for about 3 hours. At that point I was starting to get pretty tired, and wanted to make sure I had energy to get back. And, since there were fewer and fewer people, wanted to make sure I wasn't walking back all alone.

One of the areas with some dry land, perfect to get out and snap a picture!

The scariest parts were when you had to walk across the river, because the current was pretty strong. To avoid crossing at one point, I ended up in water that was a little bit too deep, lost my footing, and did some kind of freaked out doggy paddle downstream- but it must not have been as bad as it felt because none of the stuff in my backpack ended up getting wet!

One of my favorite parts of the hike with crazy rock walls (also you can see how deep the river is on that person!)

Also worth noting, it's REALLY hard to get good pictures of The Narrows, because you're in rushing water most of the time, so it's always a risk to take out your phone.

The Narrows was incredible, but afterwards I was EXHAUSTED, so had some dinner, ice cream, and caught up on bad reality TV back at the hotel. Up next: Bryce Canyon!

Wrapping up sabbatical in Cusco

March 29, 2017

I spent the last few days of my sabbatical hanging out in Cusco eating delicious Peruvian food, buying plenty of souvenirs, and soaking up some more Incan history.

I arrived to Cusco from Machu Picchu around 9 PM, and got dropped off at my hostel, El Grial, in the San Blas neighborhood. I was dirty and exhausted, but decided to grab a quick bite next door at La Bo'M, which had delicious crepes. Then I proceeded to shower and sleep for 11 hours.

Day One

The next morning, I was in the mood for some American-style breakfast (so tired of bread and jam at this point!) so I had a delicious scramble at Jack's Cafe. From there I headed over to the San Pedro market, which is an interesting blend of local and tourist stands. They have lots of cheap food stands, as well as ones selling meats, cheeses, flowers, fresh juices and more. It's also the best place to pick up your cheap typical Peruvian souvenirs; you can get a llama sweater for $10 (which EVERY gringo in town was wearing), blankets, scarves, bags, hats, gloves...it was a bit overwhelming!

Did not bring any cheese home as a souvenir :(

After exploring the market for a bit, I joined a free walking tour. It had great reviews, but I thought it was just okay. After having been in Peru for nearly 3 weeks, I already knew a lot of the info he was sharing!

We met these alpacas on our tour, aka my spirit animals who love sitting around pigging out.

A highlight of the tour was meeting two nice American girls- one from San Francisco! We all enjoyed a late lunch (linner?) together at Morena, a spot they'd heard was good- and it was! Delicious and beautiful to boot.

Causita (little Causas) and ceviche at Morena, yum!

After saying goodbye to my new friends, I decided to get a massage. There are TONS of ladies offering massage in the streets, but I opted for a place that had good reviews on Trip Advisor called Anja. A little more pricey than the random street massage, but totally worth it.

On my way there, I'd noticed a sign at the Teatro Municipal advertising a free concert that evening. I didn't have any other plans, and the timing after my massage was perfect, so I got to check out a free concert from the Cusco Symphony Orchestra!

It was one of my favorite things I did in Cusco because it was one of the few things that didn't feel made for tourists; I was one of just a couple foreigners in the audience. The symphony played some classical music, and then some traditional Peruvian songs that the audience clapped along with.

After enjoying some music, I had a small late dinner at Pachapapa, near my hostel. Turns out my Canadian friends from Machu Picchu were right up the street at La Bo'M, so I popped in to say hello/goodbye to them.

Day Two

I decided that my second day in Cusco would be my main day to pick up some gifts for my family. I headed to the Center for Traditional Textiles, which was not a great place for me to pick up gifts because it's extremely expensive ($45 for a placemat!) but was still well worth the visit. They have a small exhibit on the history of textiles in the area, and weavers demonstrating the process. I love the bright colors and intricate designs of Peruvian textiles, and this was a great place to learn a little more and see the craft in action.

Exhibit showing traditional weaving. It's incredible the beautiful designs they create.

Weavers demonstrating the process for visitors.

I headed to the Artesanal market next, which was a more budget friendly place to do my shopping. The market had pretty much the same souvenirs for sale as the San Pedro market, at the same prices, so it wasn't really worth the trip out there. I was looking for a specific style of purse for my sister, which I'd seen in the San Francisco plaza the day before. I didn't see anything that fit exactly what I was looking for for her, so ended up trekking back to the other plaza to buy it. Way too many souvenir shopping options in Cusco!

After my shopping trip, I enjoyed some delicious seafood at Barrio Ceviche, a bright and western style restaurant in the main plaza. Even though Cusco isn't near the ocean, the fish there was fresh and flavorful. Fun fact: Peruvians don't eat ceviche after 4PM, because it should be made of super fresh fish (they also probably wouldn't eat it in Cusco at all, since it's far from the sea).

I figured I should probably visit a museum or two so I could say I saw something in Cusco other than just souvenirs! So I hit up the Museu Historico Regional. It was similar in many ways to the Larco museum that I'd visited in Lima, with a nice collection of pre-Incan pottery, and some gold, silver and shell artifacts as well. It was nicely organized with good information, and there were only a couple of other people there- which I always like in a museum!

Beautiful shell bracelet. Shells were considered more valuable than gold and silver to ancient Peruvian people.

I'd planned to hit up another museum, but on my way there it started pouring rain! I had my $1 plastic poncho, but it was raining too hard to even walk a few blocks without getting soaked. So, I ducked into Museo del Cafe for what has to be the lamest cup of tea I had in South America. It had one tiny leaf in it! But they had a fireplace, and I had a book, so it was a good place to chill out and wait for the rain to subside.

The rain drove everyone out of the main plaza and under cover, so it was a great time to grab a photo!

Maybe you should not order the tea at a coffee place.

By the time I finished my tea, the rain was starting to clear up, so I was able to walk to Museo del Pisco! I'm not sure if there actually is a museum section of the place, because I was mostly just interested in having a drink at the bar, a Pisco Spritz, yum! They also had a tapas menu that sounded good, but I was saving my appetite for dinner at Organika, a place recommended to me by the American girls.

A great place to spend time if the weather isn't so nice

Day Three

My last day in Cusco was also the final day of my sabbatical! Wahh! I spent the morning getting all my stuff packed, and somehow all my new purchases miraculously fit into my pack.

I got one last dose of Inca history at Qorikancha, which was the most important temple in the Inca empire. However, the Spanish destroyed much of it and turned it into a church, so today it's a mix of both parts of Peruvian history. I decided to "splurge" on a $10 guide to learn more, since I'd visited a lot of other Inca sites on my own. It was a really interesting place to see one of the best examples of Incan architecture; they reserved the highest quality building and stone cutting techniques for their religious sites, and the bricks are carved such that they interlock perfectly.

Incan stonework and symmetry- looking from one of the temples through to the others.

The Spanish destroyed most of the Incan walls and used the stones to build their church on top of the temple.

After the temple, I checked out a vegan restaurant called Green Point. They had a bargain $5 lunch deal that included a salad, soup, main, and dessert. It all tasted pretty good, but, as always with vegan food, I was still starving afterwards, so I also had one of their more filling smoothies.

I made one more stop by San Pedro market to buy some last souvenir gifts on my mind, and then made my FINAL FINAL stop to Incan stuff at the Museo Inka. The museum wasn't that great- it looked like it got the leftovers from the better museums, but it was an okay way to spend an hour before leaving for my flight.

The Incas didn't have a written language, but communicated important information with a system of knots like this one.

After that, it was time to say my goodbyes to Cusco...but not quite yet to Peru! I had a seven hour layover in Lima, so I stowed my bag in airport storage and took an hour-long taxi ride to Maras restaurant for a delicious dinner of grilled ceviche and pork cheeks with corn ravioli (plus a couple of pre-flight cocktails).

I returned to the airport nice and full and ready for my trip home.

So...I guess this is the unceremonious ending to my sabbatical blog! It was an unforgettable 3 months, and taking some time away from work, especially to travel, is something I'd recommend to anyone. Now I can start looking forward to my next trip!

Magnificent Machu Picchu

March 27, 2017

Not many people visit Peru without a visit to its #1 attraction: Machu Picchu! I knew I wanted to do a hike there, but timing-wise, it would have been difficult to do one of the 4 or 5 day treks. I also was not sure I wanted to camp and hike that many days in a row! So the 2 day/1 night option, where you hike part of the Inca trail and then sleep in a hotel seemed like a good compromise.

It was more difficult than I expected to find a trek going during the window of time that I needed. That's a downside of visiting in the low season, though the upside is you can book a few days in advance instead of months in advance! Alpaca Expeditions had a group going, so I was able to join them.

I stayed overnight in Ollantaytambo, which meant I got to be picked up at 5:45, instead of the 4 AM Cusco pickup. Hooray for "sleeping in!" We got on a train, and hopped off at Kilometer 104, which would be the start of our hike.

My group consisted of myself and two families, both with teenage kids. It was a great education on what it’s like to travel with teens (I think it requires a lot of patience :)! For the most part, everyone was well behaved (or just absorbed in their smart phones), but one of the families completely skipped the second day, where we visited Machu Picchu, because the kids didn’t want to wake up early! I ended up making great friends with the Canadian family, and now I have the offer of a place to stay if I ever visit Vancouver!

The Inca trail scenery was much more jungle-y than I expected. It was lush, humid, and there were tons of orchids and a couple waterfalls along the way.

Scenes from the trail (I actually dropped my phone right before this but my guide was able to retrieve it! Luckily I didn't drop off a steep mountainside)

After about 3 hours, we reached some ruins known as Wiñaywayna or “Forever Young,” featuring the terracing and stone houses that I’ve become quite familiar with after a few days in the sacred valley.

We had lunch nearby, at a camp set up for those doing the longer trek. The lunch was prepared by chefs in a tent, and was amazing- those guys can cook better in the middle of nowhere than I can at home!

After lunch, we encountered rain for about 30 minutes. My worst nightmare was that it would rain the whole time and I’d be miserable. I even bought (cheap) pants and a jacket just in case, but all I ended up needing was my $1 poncho. Luckily the rain stopped pretty quickly and we enjoyed dry weather for the rest of our hike.

After hiking a couple more hours after lunch, we reached the Sun Gate! This is where we got our first glimpse at Machu Picchu from afar. After doing just a short part of the Inca trail there, it was incredible to see the ancient city nestled in the middle of the mountains- its truly incredible that they managed to build it there!

Yay we made it, and had to take a picture with our company's sign to commemorate the ccasion. (That one kid totally ruined this photo)

We took some photos, and then headed down for a closer look at Machu Picchu. We didn’t go into the city (that would have to wait until tomorrow), but got a lot of great pictures from nearby. The ruins were almost empty at that hour, about 4 PM, so we were able to not have 500 tourists in the background of our photos.

Worn out from our early wakeup call and 8 hours of hiking, we headed down to Aguas Cliente, aka Machu Picchu Pueblo, to check in to our hotels and enjoy some dinner. I have to say, I was pretty content with the hotel option and happy not to be sleeping in a tent!

The next day it was another early wakeup call- we met up at 5AM to catch an early bus up to Machu Picchu. Our guide was the last one to show- after 5:30, and seemed a biiiit hungover from the night before. There was a big Peru vs. Venezuela football match on, and he seems like he enjoyed himself watching it! When we arrived, he gave us a 2 hour tour of the site (still good, whether he was hungover or not). I thought the benefit of going early would be to visit when it was relatively empty, but there were TONS of other groups there. It didn’t bother me too much, you kind of have to expect that at one of the world’s top tourist attractions.

What I loved about being there so early was the morning mist and clouds on the mountains- it made the whole place feel more magical and mysterious.

After the tour, my Canadian friends left to relax back at their hotel, but I’d signed up to hike Machu Picchu mountain. It’s not as popular as Wayna Picchu (the big mountain you can see behind the ruins in all the photos) but I’d heard that one is not good for people who afraid of heights, so I went for the less scary option.

The hike was not that impressive to me. It was all stairs, for an hour and a half up, and an hour down. The scenery along the way was not that different from the Inca trail, and the view from the top was nice, but not all that different from what we saw at the Sun Gate. The trekking company I used charged $75 for the ticket to the mountain (the actual price is only $15, so I wasn’t thrilled about the markup, but it was the only way to buy it)….and I don’t think it was worth the price! For someone who hadn’t hiked the Inca trail, maybe it would have been more rewarding.

Didn't enjoy the hike that much, but still took a pic at the top!

After hiking the mountain, I had to meet my guide at 1:00 in town, so I grabbed some quick lunch to go and found him. I was really annoyed to learn that a) my train back to Ollaytaytambo was not until 4:30 and b) everyone else in the group was on an earlier train. NOT COOL, since there is literally nothing to do but buy stupid souvenirs in Aguas Caliente.

I ended up meeting the Canadians at their hotel, where they had a nice free lunch buffet, and ate a second lunch. Then I just sat in their hotel lobby and used the Wifi to do some Cusco research.

I paid extra to upgrade to the "Vistadome" train, which was not worth it. The regular train cars have windows on the roof too and the extra money doesn't buy you much. However, in Vistadome we were treated to a small pizza snack, and some kind of local dance/costume which was terrifying:

It's easy to see why Machu Picchu is one of the wonders of the world and attracts thousands of visitors a year!

Exploring the Sacred Valley: Salineras, Moray, & Ollantaytambo

March 26, 2017

The Sacred Valley is filled with interesting Incan sites to discover. Two of the ones on my list were in Maras: Moray and Salineras. Maras is sort of, maybe, not quite, in between Pisac and Ollantaytambo. I thought it'd be easy to find a tour that would take me to these sites, but ALL the tours begin and end in Cusco, after visiting the sites for a few hours. So instead, Janny (from my hotel) helped me hire a taxi that would pick me up in Pisac, take me to visit the sites, and then drop me in Ollantaytambo, where I had a hotel booked for the next night for about $50. It would have been nice to have a guide, but luckily there is Wikipedia, so I read up before visiting!

First stop was Salineras, which consists of 3,000 salt pools that have been in use at least since Incan days. The pools are fed from a natural warm salty spring, which flows through manmade channels and is directed into shallow pools. Then the water channel is blocked so the water in the pool can evaporate, and then locals harvest the salt. Each pool is owned by a different family, and it's all organized by the community.

It was really impressive to see how ingeniously the Incan people set up a system to harvest salt. These days we are pretty spoiled by just going to the grocery store!

Next up were the Incan terraces at Moray. Historians don’t know exactly what these terraces were used for, but the commonly accepted explanation is that they were a laboratory of sorts for testing crops at different climates/elevations: Wikipedia tells me the the difference between the top and bottom is as much as 27 °F (but you’re not allowed to go to the bottom).

There is one that is very well restored and maintained in the photo above, and two others that have not been extensively restored, giving you an idea for what they may have looked like when discovered (they were also probably covered in vegetation).

One of the less well restored terraces, with mountain views!

After checking out Moray, I got dropped off in Ollantaytambo at my hotel, La Casa del Abuelo. Ollantaytambo has been continually inhabited since the Inca days, and many of the streets and buildings date back to that time. Unfortunately a lot of the charm is lost due to a very touristy center, but if you wander slightly away from the main plaza you can stroll peacefully and pretend you're an Inca (or just appreciate the absence of souvenir shops).

That evening I had dinner at La Esquina, where I had an AMAZING salad and some really not amazing carrot cake, then I went back to my hotel which had strong Wifi (so rare) and watched a little Netflix for the first time during my trip!

The following day, I woke up pretty early, and headed to the ruins which were less than a 5 minute walk from my hotel. My plan was to hire a guide there, since I was told that there are usually a bunch of guides for hire hanging around the entrance. Unfortunately, it was international water day, and there was a little celebration going on, so none of the guides were there! I was a little disappointed, but one of the ticket checkers gave me a short overview in Spanish, and I had the site map with a bit of information. There were a lot of tours there, and I thought about asking to join one, but they were all really old people who could barely climb the stairs (no offense to old people), so I ditched that idea and just gave myself a tour.

The ruins are best known as the site of one of the few Inca victories against the Spaniards. They managed to hold back the conquistadors, and flooded the area below, stopping their advance. The victory was short-lived, thought, and Ollantaytambo was soon captured by the Spanish.

It was only about 10:30 when I finished up at the ruins, so I decided to do a short hike before lunch, up to some...you guessed it....RUINS!

Final destination (as seen from the top of the other ruins)

The Pinkuylluna ruins/houses up on the hill were used as storehouses. I have no idea why the Incas would have stored stuff in such a difficult to reach location, but it was a nice way to get some exercise and also offered great views of Ollantaytambo.

Following the hike, I enjoyed another salad at Hearts Cafe, and then I was kind of out of stuff to do, since the only other activities there are more, longer hikes. I ended up going to a cafe near my hotel where I had a tea and a cookie and read a book. Then I just walked around some more, watched some more Netflix, and started getting packed for my trip to Machu Picchu.

Overall I think I spent a bit too much time in Ollantaytambo, but I liked the experience of staying longer in the Sacred Valley villages than most people do. Now that I am in Cusco and I see how hectic it is, it was nice to have a couple of relaxing days and get in some day hikes.

I was really glad I stayed overnight in Ollantaytambo the day before my Machu Picchu trek, because it allowed me to get a lot more sleep than if I'd left from Cusco. You can read about my visit to Machu Picchu soon!

Exploring the Sacred Valley: Pisac edition

March 21, 2017

The last leg of my trip is upon me! The Cusco area is where I'll be spending my last week of sabbatical. I took the night bus from Puno to Cusco, but decided to head straight to the Sacred Valley, in order to take my time exploring the sights and villages there. The Sacred Valley is about an hour or so from Cusco, and has beautiful scenery and plenty of ruins to explore. It's most common to take day trips from Cusco to visit the sights, but I thought it'd be nice to stay overnight in a couple different places to get a better feel for it.

Stunning Sacred Valley! (not taken at 6 AM)

I hoped in a taxi to Pisac, and arrived to Hospedaje Kitamayu at about 6 AM. The delightful owner, Janny, greeted me with tea, and had a room ready to go, so I promptly got into bed and slept for a couple more hours. I woke up nice and refreshed and enjoyed a breakfast of scrambled eggs- a rare treat in Peru where breakfast is usually just bread and jam. Then I set out to see the main attraction, the Incan ruins.

The ruins cover a lot of area on a mountain, and usually you can either hike all the way up/down them. However, right now the middle section of the trail is closed, so the choices were to take a taxi to the top and hike down a bit, or to hike up from the bottom; the latter is what Janny recommended to me. Of course, I started off the hike by going the wrong way for about 20 minutes. A local guy was walking along the path, and helped me find my way back to where the trail ACTUALLY started. I seriously should not be allowed to hike on my own, I get lost EVERY TIME.

The trek takes you up a mountain with some beautiful views, and the opportunity to see some Incan agricultural terraces. Along the way, there are various ruins that you can explore.

Incan terracing near the beginning of the hike

When I reached the last hike-able part of the trek, I met a German couple who had come down from the top. They told me there was an alternate trail and pointed it out, so I started hiking on it hoping to make it to the top of the ruins. But….the trail just looped back on itself and brought me right back to where I’d met the Germans. Grrrr!

I was kind of disappointed (and tired from now having hiked even more uphill), but all things happen for a reason! When I got back to ruins where I met the Germans, I was surprised to run into one of my friends from Spanish school in Medellin! He was there with his girlfriend, and we ended up making plans to have dinner together that evening, which was a great time.

After my hike, I enjoyed some lunch at Mullu in the town square, and visited the Pisac market. The market essentially takes up the entire town square, and is filled with typical Peruvian handicrafts and souvenirs. It was very touristy, but I love Peruvian textiles and the prices were pretty good, so I left with quite a few things!

The next day I didn’t do much in the morning. I was starting to get worried about my lack of waterproof clothing and the high chance of rain predicted on my upcoming 2-Day Inca trek, so I ended up buying some gear from some local shops in Pisac. I picked up a pair of pants and a Colombia knock-off jacket for a total of $34: a low price to pay for peace of mind knowing I’ll be dry on the trail. Well, unless my cheap crappy clothes are not in fact waterproof!

That afternoon, I continued by Sacred Valley trip by checking out more Incan history at Moray and Salineras de Maras on my way to Ollantaytambo. More to report on that soon!

Floating around Lake Titicaca

March 19, 2017

Hello from the highest altitude lake in the world! I am currently at a homestay in Lago Titicaca. Without Wifi, of course (or electricity, or running water for that matter), so I’ll post this when I get back to dry land.

Today we arrived in Puno a few hours behind schedule, due to our bus being delayed by the flooding in Lima and the central coast. Most of the people on the Peru Hop bus are staying in Puno and down a day tour on Lake Titicaca, but I thought it could be an interesting experience to stay on an island on the lake. Some people I met in Arequipa mentioned an amazing experience they had at a lodge here, but it was all full (and very expensive) when I tried to book it, so I found a somewhat random alternative on hotels.com: Titikala Uros.

I booked my stay online, but the lodge doesn’t have a website or email address, so I had my hotel in Arequipa call them to figure out the details. I wasn’t quite sure it would work out, but here I am! I waited around in Puno for a while until Hernan, who seems to be running the show, came to pick me up and take me to the island. On the way to the boat, we walked through a huge street market. Once a week, on Saturdays, lots of people come from islands and villages to do their shopping in the streets of Puno. You can buy shoes, school supplies, food, and even chickens! (I did not buy any chickens)

After our brief stroll through town, we got into a small motor boat for a very chilly ~20 minute ride to Uros, accompanied by an English-speaking guide/native of the islands (I forgot her name, but I think it was something like Sintra). The Uros islands are manmade with reeds that grow in Lake Titicaca. There are about 90 (I think) small islands, with a few families living in small huts on each one. The little island I’m staying on is called Santa Maria, and I think it's one mainly for tourist purposes.

I am a little confused about how this experience is supposed to be working- I think the family was supposed to be here when I arrived, but there was an important meeting of some kind in Puno for the islanders, so it was just Hernan, Sintra and myself when we got here. Sintra suited me up in some traditional clothes, which are in fact very warm, and then Hernan took me on a kayak ride around some of the islands. The lake was really peaceful and it was an interesting way to see things!

When we got back, it was dark, and the solar-powered electricity was not working! So I helped Sintra, mostly in the dark, cut up some things for dinner. Sintra told me that the lodge was created to help the local families earn money, and they rotate which family tourists stay with when they visit. So when the “family” arrived back, I was a little confused as to whether they always live on this island, or just come here to visit with tourists. I may never know! I also put family in quotations, because there are two older women and one middle aged man, and I don’t think they are related to one another. So maybe it’s just a random group of locals assembled to entertain me?

Anyhow, once the family arrived, Sintra and Hernan left, so it was me, my lousy Spanish and three islanders! The Uros people mostly speak a local language called Aymara, but they also speak some Spanish. I exhausted all my Spanish pretty quickly and they didn’t really ask me many questions, so dinner was a little awkward. It feels kind of like I’ve paid some people to hang out with me/to intrude on their lives. They also served me so much rice and french fries at dinner and I felt like I had to eat it all even though it was way too much food! Carbo loading continues!

Home sweet hut (taken the next morning when it was less cold)

So now I am in my room: a small but nice hut, and it is FREEZING. I’m wearing two pairs of pants, a shirt, sweater, jacket, and another jacket, and a hat, and have 3 blankets on me. I am also strategizing how I’m going to wash my face using only bottled water.

I realize I probably sound kind of negative about the experience, but temperature and awkwardness aside, it is really interesting to actually see more close up how people live on the islands and to have the opportunity to observe some of their day to day. I think if I were to do it again, I would have organized my plan a little earlier so I could stay at a homestay that’s a bit more established and well recommended. But for now I am going to enjoy living/freezing like a local.

Back on dry land now- the next day I woke up, and enjoyed a huge amount of bread for breakfast (seriously, I can't eat any more bread). Then, the tourist boats started rolling in! That made me really glad that I visited the islands in the evening and stayed overnight to experience them in a much more peaceful way.

I hoped aboard their boat in Uros, and we sailed about 2 hours to Isla Taquile, which is natural (not man-made like Uros) and where the people still practice a very traditional lifestyle. We snapped some photos at the beach and then walked about 40 minutes to a part of the island where people live.

Textiles are huge in Taquile, and these crafts were recognized by UNESCO in 2005. The men all do knitting, and the women weaving, and they have different hats and clothing to indicate whether you're married or single. Their weaving is really beautiful, intricate and colorful- you can see some of it in this photo, where they're doing some traditional music and dance.

Following the explanation, we had some tasty lunch of fresh trout from the lake, and then headed back to our boat for the trip back to Puno, during which I took a great nap.

Overall I thought the islands were a worthwhile stop on the way to Cusco- and now I can say I've been to Lake Titicaca, the highest, and most ridiculously named lake in the world!

Trekking the Colca Canyon

March 19, 2017

One of the key reasons to visit Arequipa is to visit the Colca Canyon. The Colca Canyon is one of the deepest in the world. I’ve heard some conflicting stats- either that it’s the second or third largest. In either case, it’s super deep: twice as deep as the Grand Canyon.

There are a few different ways you can see it depending on how much time you have and your appetite for hiking, so I opted for a three-day trek. The bus picked us up at 3 AM for a four hour drive to the start of the hike. Along the way, we stopped for breakfast (it was lame- just bread and jam in a freezing restaurant) and at a viewpoint where you’re supposed to be able to see condors, but we didn’t glimpse any. It still offered some great views though.

At about 8:30, we got going on the trail. Our group had eight people in total. Myself, Trace (a girl I met on the Peru Hop bus), a Belgian couple, an Australian couple, a guy from the states named Jason, and our guide, Giancarlo. Giancarlo decided that our group would be called The Pumas, and our catchphrase was “Hakuna Matata.”

The first day we just walked down, down, down for about 3.5 or 4 hours. I thought going downhill was easy, but it was actually pretty rough on my butt!

We hiked allll the way down to the river in the middle of this photo

Once we reached near the bottom of the canyon, we stopped at Familia Gloria, our rustic homestay for the night.

We were all pretty hungry for lunch, which unfortunately turned out to be a pretty small portion of lomo saltado. For the rest of the afternoon we just chilled out- figuratively and literally- it was really cold down there! There was of course no Wifi or TV or anything, but luckily someone brought a pack of cards so we played a few rounds to kill time. Dinner was a small vegetarian meal, so we all went to bed a bit hungry :( Breakfast was a little more filling, and much cuter:

The next day was another 3.5 hour hike to “The Oasis” - it was more of a mix of uphill/downhill and flat, and we started at 8:30, not 3 AM, so I was in much better spirits! The Oasis is truly that, a small lodge with green grass, fruit trees, and even a pool! It wasn’t super warm, but we all jumped in anyway to celebrate making it to the bottom of the canyon (and, at least for me, to wash the sweat and dirt off myself!).

For those that do the trek in two days, they walk all the way to The Oasis in one day; I was really glad I’d opted to do the longer, slower version of the trek. The lunch portions were similarly small, but at this point we’d come to have lower expectations for the food on this trip. After lunch some of the guys played soccer, I read a book, and then took what ended up being a super long nap! The Oasis had some games, so we played a little Jenga. Then our guide Giancarlo but on some Peruvian music and taught us a dance, which seemed to mostly consist of jogging in place with an occasional kick. It got our heart rates up, that’s for sure!

For dinner, we finally had a big plate of pasta to prepare us for the hardest part of the trek the next day! We started the hike at 4:30 AM, and it was 3 hours of an unrelenting uphill climb. We all took it at our own pace, and even though I was one of the slower hikers, I finally made it to the top, with the help of some podcasts on my cell phone to distract me. Once we reached the top of the canyon, it was another 30 minutes of walking on flat ground to our breakfast destination (yes, we did that whole hike BEFORE breakfast, but don’t worry we all had snacks).

After a hearty (well, for Peru) breakfast, we hopped on a bus back to Arequipa. We stopped along the way at a restaurant with a lunch buffet. The guys in the group went crazy eating everything they could after our meager meals over the last few days. I took it a little easier than they did :)

After lunch we stopped at some hot spring pools, which felt AMAZING after three long days of hiking. I didn’t feel sore the next day, and I definitely credit the pools for that!

The hike was challenging at times, especially with the early wakeup times, but it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip so far. The views were amazing, I got to push myself physically, and I loved the people in my group. There’s nothing like accomplishing something together, and a lack of technology, to bond with new people. I had a great time getting to know them, and we all hung out again once back to civilization.

Back in Arequipa, Trace and I shared a hotel room back at Casa de Avila, where I enjoyed the longest shower ever, and then we treated ourselves to a nice Italian meal before collapsing to bed after our big hike!

Welcome to my blog!

South America...and beyond!

In early 2017, I took a 3 month sabbatical from work to travel in South America, and blogged about it along the way. Since then, I’ve taken a few more noteworthy trips, and am sharing my experiences with you here!

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